I Love Your Way
by Juni Onigiri
Summary: Todochako week 2019 entries :)
1. Day 1 - Mythology

**I Love Your Way (Todochako Week 2019)  
**Day 1 - Mythology

**AN: **All entries are collaborations with safri_riri on Twitter :) she did the fanart while I did the words! You can see the fanart on her twitter feed, my tumblr (junionigiri) on on AO3 where I crossposted this :) I hope you like~

* * *

Ochako walks on fields filled with flowers of pink and gold. The sun kisses the bare skin of her shoulders. In the distance, a lazy river flows; pretty nymphs bathing in its cool waters, giggling and cracking jokes and just enjoying life.

The world above the ground is bright and sunny and beautiful; this is the only type of world she'd ever known ever since she was created. She breathes in the spring air, revels in the feel of it filling her lungs.

"Darling." A goddess walks beside her. Regal; wheat-colored hair, dazzling purple eyes, every bit sparkling and intimidating. "Do not tell me you mean to go back to that wretched place."

"Beloved mother," Ochako says, trying to keep the smile on her face from showing. She regains her composure and faces him. "You know that I have to."

Aoyama's mouth twitches in disdain. "Awful and unforgivable, that's what this whole arrangement is! Why must you agree to it? I can't believe that I have to lose my one and only daughter just because of a bloody pomegranate!"

He twirls in his royal robes of white and gold, with sympathetic and angry red flowers sprouting beside him as he does. His royal subjects bathing in the river are compelled to stare at him in wonder. Ochako merely tries to keep it together as she keeps her eyes on her beloved queen mother.

"Still, promises are promises," she manages to say quietly. "I must go back underneath the earth. My husband waits for me."

Her chest twinges a bit saying that.

"Humph! To have to return my pure daughter to the Dead King causes me such grief!" says Aoyama, turning to face her once more. Her mother always has such a difficult face to read, so Ochako wonders why there's a knowing smile on his mouth when he looks at her cheeks, one after the other, and speaks to her again. "Tell the king of Hell, that terrible abductor, that I hope his kingdom freezes over!"

"Mother!" Ochako looks at him despairingly, begging for some reprieve. "Please do not judge him unfairly! He isn't cold and terrible! He is good and just and kind, and-"

That smile on Mother's face again. For someone who's supposedly grieving, he's looking awfully smug. This forces a waver in Ochako's voice, especially when she thinks of the next thing she has to say.

"... and he tells me, he will never love anyone, like he does me," she finishes. She feels her cheeks glow under the weight of his amused stare.

Aoyama sighs. "Words are wind, my love, and so are Hades'. No matter how sweet they sound. Do not trust him."

A chasm appears in the earth to literally swallow Ochako whole. She gazes into it, and back to Mother, who tears up as he prepares to say goodbye once more.

She turns before she sees his grandiose and dramatic despairing, the wrath of the earth floating around him as he does. Ochako's barely had her foot in the chasm when spring turns into fall, and the nymphs in the river begin to slip into quiet hibernation.

She jumps into the darkness and faces the ferryman, Deku-a fellow that's probably too bright and sunny for his job, but one he takes seriously anyway. Ochako puts a coin in his hand and rides the boat through the mystic river.

"It's, um, good to see you again, your highness," Deku chirps a little too cheerily than he ought to be doing, in a river full of the dead. One of them glares at him from underwater, making him blush and force a grim look on his face. "So the land above is cold once more?"

"Yes. Such is the wrath of my queen mother." She looks fearfully around the darkness, where ghosts and ghouls and such float. "The Underworld is doing well, it seems."

"Yup! Our King works pretty hard to keep things in order! You know, judging the dead, punishing them, fixing the irrigation systems, things like that!"

"I see. It's good to see that his highness managed well while I was gone."

He seems to have completely given up being grim as they sail along the river, despite getting another pointed glare from the dead. With another bright smile incompatible with the setting, he says, "Oh, but don't be down, my queen! His majesty thinks of you often as he governs us here!"

"Has he?" Ochako sighs dramatically. "I wonder if my king loves me as he says he does! My mother has warned me as much-"

They reach the end of the river. Deku alights and helps her off the boat. "Believe in our King. He waits for you to take his place by his side."

Ochako nods, albeit uneasily, and leaves the ferryman at the edge of the river.

The Underworld is dark and grim and orderly. But she is the goddess of spring, and so flowers of all bright colors grow where her feet land. Fearlessly she makes her way through the mist and convoluted pathways, until she faces a great glass door, shining midnight blue.

Beyond which, her husband awaits.

And as she pushes the glass aside, she sees him. Tall, pale skin with blue scars and mismatched eyes, frost all around him. A sharp dark suit, a crown of twisted black metal on top of his pure silver hair. A mountain of scrolls and folders on his desk, the files of the dead souls awaiting judgment.

He turns to her quite naturally. A genuine smile on his face, one that makes disembodied voices gasp and swoon all around him. "Persephone."

Ochako stutters in her steps a bit, face frozen in a smile that feels unnatural. She shakes herself back to her senses subtly and steps forward and bows deeply. "Your highness. I have returned as promised."

Amusement glints in his eyes as he watches her stand to her full height again. "It's good to see you again, my love. Winter on earth cannot come soon enough."

Someone from afar chokes-Ochako hears something that sounds suspiciously like _dreeamy boy! _in the voice of Bakugou the god of war, from far away. She tries not to lose her focus and dares herself to look up at the face of her, um… her husband. "It has been a long year indeed, my King."

He pauses and regards her, an unreadable look in his eyes. "Is there anything wrong?"

With his doubt comes the cold; Ochako rubs the skin of her bare arms as the frost encompasses the room. "No, not at all, my King. I just… think of my mother."

"Queen Demeter," he says flatly with a huff. "What has my sister told you?"

She looks up at him fearfully. His eyes have become dark, his demeanor intimidating. Shadows seem to dance around him as he steps closer.

It's hard to be dishonest, and so she closes her eyes and answers. "My mother has told me… she told me that words are wind, and so are yours, so… I cannot possibly trust-"

A cold hand clasps around her wrist. She is terrified and is powerless to open her eyes, but then she feels warmth around her, and hears him shift in front of her.

When she opens her eyes, she finds her small frame enveloped in his coat. He's kneeling in front of her, eyes shining in the darkness.

He takes a deep breath and says, quite clearly. "Please, believe in me, my queen. Without you, my kingdom remains dark and my heart, as dead and empty as those I serve. I have loved no-one but you, and will love no-one else."

Ochako is having a really hard time looking straight into his eyes. "H-Hades… I…"

He doesn't move, staring right into her eyes, waiting patiently. To hear her affirmation, or perhaps to break his heart is to be determined.

She bites her lower lip and swallows. "I… forgot my line…"

The air around them fills with groans in the next moment. "Really, Ochako-chan?! Just when it was getting good!"

"Sorry guys," she whimpers as the lights switch on one by one. All around her, her classmates who have been pretending to be corpses at the edge of the stage get up and stretch.

From beyond the stage, Mina looks up at her, sighing as she fans herself with the script. "Anything wrong there, babe? You two are doing great so far, but you seem extra off just now? Kinda looking overheated there."

Ochako sputters and shakes her head vehemently. "Wh-why would I be overheated, Mina-chan? It's the opposite! It's really cold up here!"

It is. They had Todoroki use his real ice instead of having the props team make imitation ones. The shivering parts of her acting were 100% real.

"You tell me, Ochako-chan. I'm just calling it as I see it," Mina says with a wink that doesn't make her feel any better. "In any case, I guess we can take a break for now. The two of you have been acting all morning, after all."

With that, everyone disperses. Ochako takes a deep breath and releases it and begins to walk off the stage, trying not to slip on ice.

"Uraraka."

"Todoroki-kun." As distracting as the patch of blue that the make-up team placed over his scar is, she doesn't miss the look of concern on his face as he walks beside her. "What is it? Oh-wait, I'm sorry, your coat…"

She begins to shrug off the coat, but he holds up two hands to stop her. "You can keep wearing it if you need to."

"But…"

"You said you were cold. We aren't doing our scenes in a while, anyway."

"Oh," she says with a bashful smile. "Yeah… Um, sorry for messing up the scene back there, Todoroki-kun. We should have been done for the day if I got it right."

It's hard to keep the feelings of embarrassment at bay, considering how many big mistakes she made in the past rehearsals despite her spending so many hours memorizing all the lines in Mina's Greek mythology script. Compared to Todoroki-kun, who unexpectedly got into it very early on and delivers all his lines, angsty and lovey-dovey and everything else, without an ounce of hesitation. It's unfair how talented Todoroki-kun is in many things without trying too hard!

Speaking of which, why was she cast in this role anyway? No-one was able to stop Mina-chan when they chose her idea for the cultural festival presentation, and no-one was also able to stop her from writing a script and consequently casting everyone in class. She doesn't know what possessed her friend to cast Ochako in such a major role, and with Todoroki-kun as her leading man, and no-one bothered to give her a proper explanation for it.

"Don't worry about it too much," Todoroki tells her as they walk out of the classroom and towards the nearby vending machine. "I think you did well in your other scenes."

… just not the ones with Todoroki-kun as Hades the King of the Underworld declaring his love for her and such, was the eventual conclusion. She groans and leans her head against the cool glass of the vending machine. "Urgh, I'm sorry you had to be cast with me, Todoroki-kun! I am _so _not good at romantic scenes! I don't usually think of lovey-dovey stuff or anything like that…"

_Sure you don't, _her brain snarks. She hits her forehead lightly against the machine in retaliation.

"I understand what you mean," Todoroki agrees. "I don't think about romance a lot, either."

She puffs her cheeks. "But… you're good at this. That makes it more unfair…"

Todoroki hums, a neither here nor there sound that doesn't really sound like he's agreeing. "Do you want anything?"

She shrugs, and gestures for him to pick for her. He presses a button near her ear, and she feels the cold of his fingertips against it. She should be recoiling at the feel of it, but she feels her cheeks warm up at the action instead.

Stupid! Why is she getting worked up about pretending to be his wife and hearing his fake proclamations of love up close? She's inconveniencing Todoroki-kun and the rest of her class by being so iffy about acting when she should just suck it up and be a goddamn professional about this.

She tries to straighten up and look at her leading man just as the machine drops two bottles for pick-up. "So… Todoroki-kun. If you don't think about romance that often, how are you able to say those cheesy lines from the script so easily?"

"... was my acting cheesy?" His eyebrows shoot up in mild concern.

She actually doesn't know. It probably was by the way Bakugou was reacting, but everyone else including her was too mesmerized by him saying those lines at all to notice. "No, you were fine," she finally manages.

Taking note of her odd answer, Todoroki instead mulls over her question seriously. It takes him a while and a bit of staring at Ochako that makes her feel out of sorts.

After a few more beats of silence, he begins speaking. "I don't know. I don't think I'm good at pretending either, but when I have to, I try to mean what I say when I'm saying the lines."

Ochako stares at him dumbly. "Ah… y-you mean… like… even those lovey-dovey lines?"

He nods, not looking the least bit embarrassed about the things he said.

"You're kidding, Todoroki-kun! I'm sure you're super good at pretending, just that you didn't realize it until now…"

He shrugs. "Maybe. But it's not hard pretending to care about you, Uraraka."

His eyes aren't as intense as they were on the stage, with all the shadows and lighting effects making blue and onyx shimmer so intimately, but his gaze and simple words paralyze her all the same.

To her silence, he looks right into her eyes and smiles, much like a scoundrel. "In fact, most of the time, it's surprisingly easy. Even the parts where I talk about how dark and empty my heart is without you and all that."

In utter disbelief, she flushes a deep red and has to look away from his teasing gaze before she melts in an incoherent puddle on the floor. What kind of guy just says these things without blinking? It's hard to force herself not to turn away to say, "I change my mind, Todoroki-kun. You're a ham. An utter cheeseball. You're _horrible. _"

He hums in amusement. "You said I wasn't."

"Well you are, and you're the worst," Uraraka says, finally turning away and puffing her cheeks in annoyance. No way is she going to survive this conversation if she allows him to look at her like _that. _

She hears him chuckle, and feels something cool being pushed into her hands. She looks down at the drink he's bought her, and ends up gaping right at it.

"This is-"

The door to the classroom opens, Mina's bright pink head popping out from within. "Ah, here's where my gorgeous loveteam is at. You guys ready for another rehearsal?"

Ochako's jaw is still hanging open as Todoroki tells her, "Yeah, we'll be there."

"All righty~ better get to it, then," she says. She gives them both a cheesy grin and disappears back into the classroom.

Todoroki walks ahead and looks back at her, that little smile still on his infuriating pretty mouth. "That's my treat, by the way. Better finish it before you go back."

He leaves, and Ochako is left to stare incredulously at the bottle of pomegranate green tea in her hand.

_Yeah… he's an utter cheeseball. _

Before she can stop herself, she's smiling all giddy and stupid and she has to straighten herself out to get back to a semblance of functionality. She puffs her cheeks, chugs down the drink in pure determination, and heads back to the rehearsal space, where the director and her leading man are waiting for her.


	2. Day 2 - Protection

**I Love Your Way  
**Day 2 - Protection

* * *

"Ochako, catch."

The bottle comes sailing from her left, and easily lands on her right. As expected, it's just the right level of coolness that she craves after a vigorous hour of sparring. Twisting the bottle open, she beams at the source of her drink. "Thanks, Shouto!"

He raises his eyebrows at her in acknowledgment, face barely changing from the impassive, downright intimidating stare he gives his set of first years. Without another word, he turns his attention back to his class without missing a beat.

"Wow, Uraraka-senpai… Todoroki-senpai's pretty stern, isn't he?"

She hums as she takes a gulp of her drink. Around her, the three first years that she's spent the morning mentoring are taking a breather after cooling down. Aizawa-sensei assigned her to those whose quirks would benefit from learning close combat: Sake, who emits ethanol from his sweat; Kazu, who can influence probability to some extent; and Riri, who produces seeds that sprout into flowers anywhere she likes.

Their quirks are more than a little interesting. Truth be told, Ochako's a little intimidated of their potential, but at least they stay humble and seem to look up to her enough. She likes them, especially Riri, although she reminds her a bit of Mina-chan with her deathly interest of other people's love lives.

"So is he also that way with you, senpai?" Case in point, right now.

Ochako laughs awkwardly. "What do you mean, Riri-chan?"

"You know. Stern. Protective. Possessive, maybe," she points out with a wiggle of her pale eyebrows. "I'm weak for those overprotective types! Boys who always has an arm around you when you walk, looks at everyone else all mean when you go on dates… says things like _I don't want other boys to look at you, you're all mine!_"

"Riri, can you not weird senpai out with your stupid questions?" Kazu says with a reprimanding tone. "You don't have to take her seriously, Uraraka-senpai. She's just looking for the next juicy gossip."

Riri sticks out her tongue at him. "You're just crabby 'cos Todoroki-senpai beat you to asking Uraraka-senpai out! And you too, Sake!"

Sake makes a blubbering noise and blushes. "Why ya gotta bring that up again?! I'm just sittin' here, drinkin' my juice peacefully! What's a man gotta do to get over a broken heart, hah?"

They laugh about it now, but it's true that Ochako has had to reject their confessions (as well as others) a couple of weeks ago. It was right before Shouto has tried to be more public with his affections and thus shocked half the school with the revelation that they've been dating for about a month now.

Which is why it's doubly funny that she ended up being their second-year mentor for the week-long combat training classes. While Ochako worried that it'll be awkward at the start, her first years thankfully didn't seem to mind the set-up at all. They only focused on getting stronger during training and nothing else.

"Back to Todoroki-senpai, though," Riri presses, eliciting groans from the boys. "Is he anything like that? I mean… you guys are public now, but you two are so quiet and chill, and I guess it isn't bad, but you gotta know that I ship the two of you. _So, so hard._ And it isn't just me who ships TodoOcha in this school-"

Ochako almost spits out her drink at the shipping part. Kazu notices and whines complainingly at her classmate. "Oh my god Riri, stop talking, have some shame, senpai's blushing can't ya see-"

"But it's true! You gotta know how starved for content we are!" The girl bounces happily, yellow roses blooming on the tile around her. "But! I don't see you holding hands in school or anything… did you know that some guys think that you two aren't actually going out?"

"That's strange." Do they really have to hold hands 24/7 for the world to be convinced that they're dating? And do they really have to prove it to others?

"Yeah! Weird! Although, I've always thought that senpai would be more obvious about liking you, you know? Like those heroes from _Ikemen Sengoku_… keeping you by his side at all times, ready to take down the other lords in the war-"

Ochako finally swallows down the last bit of liquid down her esophagus before she chokes on it. All these weird words coming out of this girl's mouth! "Riri-chan, Todoroki-kun and I are fine, don't worry."

"Yeah, Riri. Quit gettin' in their business," Sake says before turning to Ochako. He has a big smile on his face. "Anyways, just to change the subject! Uraraka-senpai, it's our last day of combat training with you, right?"

She nods. "And you guys did so well. I hope you get to use the Gunhead Martial Arts in the future!"

"We sure will!" Sake clears his throat, and then nods at Kazu, who nods with a determined grin. Riri rolls her eyes. "S-so… seein' as the three of us did so well and all… I was wondering if you wanted to get some ice cream with-"

"Ochako."

The first years trail off, faces suddenly blue. She turns behind her, curious, meeting Shouto's mismatched eyes. "Oh, Shouto! You guys done too?"

He nods, gesturing to three kids lying on the floor and unmoving. "They said they're fine, but I wonder if I pushed them too far."

"... Oh… I'm sure you didn't," Ochako says reassuringly.

He stares at her in his usual unreadable way, which lasts for a few moments of silence. When she's about to ask what's the matter, he says quietly, "... your hair."

"... ah," she runs her hand through messy brown strands and laughs awkwardly. "Yeah, I forgot to bring a hair tie. But it's no big deal..."

He interrupts her by wordlessly bringing up a plain black scrunchie under her nose. She wonders why he has one in the first place and why he's insistent on her wearing it, but she complies and ties her hair back in a ponytail.

"... ah," Sake and Kazu say in unison, going from pale to beet red. Riri, in sharp contrast, looks like she just won the lottery.

Incredulous, she falters briefly at how oddly they're behaving. Meanwhile Shouto remains unfazed when he glances at her first years. "Are you guys finished training?"

Kazu manages to stammer. "Y… yes, senpai. We're actually going to the showers in a bit."

"All right," Shouto says as they stand up, with a strange sense of defeat over the boys and sweet, sweet vindication for Riri.

"Thanks, Uraraka-senpai! I learned so much! See ya!" the girl says with a wink and a skip in her step. She follows the boys out of Gym Gamma, teasing them along the way.

Meanwhile, Ochako is left with her boyfriend, who seems to have a knowing gleam in his eyes. "What was that about? I could have sworn they were about to invite me to ice cream."

There's an innocent smile on his face when he puts an arm around her and leads her out of the gym. "Who knows. They didn't seem like they believed we were really going out, at first."

She scoffs, but gives him a mischievous smile. "And now you're suddenly protectin' what's yours, huh?"

He hums. "You don't like that?"

"... nah, I do." She'd like more of that, if she had her way.

"Good," Shouto says, staring at the sides of her neck. "Then you won't kill me after you take a good look at yourself in the mirror, right?"

Her jaw drops, and her hand automatically comes up to cover the skin of the sides of her neck… and all the marks he placed there, just last night, in the privacy of his dorm room. Realization sinks in her gut, slowly. "Shouto…! You!"

He chuckles and dodges away from her affronted slap. "I can always put more, if that's what you're worried about."

She shrieks in embarrassment and chases him out of the gym. Shouto runs fast and has her display the marks on her neck for a few more meters before he allows her to catch him, throwing his arms possessively around her.

Needless to say, their so-called fanclub at school had lots of things to talk about after that day.

* * *

AN: does this fit the prompt? i dunno, but i trieedddd

please visit my tumblr (junionigiri) or AO3 (JuniRiceBall) to also see safri_riri's fanart for this chapter!


	3. Day 3 - White Day

**I Love Your Way  
**Day 3 - White Day

_an: This story also features background Ojitooru and very minor Kamichako :D_

* * *

The rich smell of melting chocolates waft all over the kitchen of the dormitory, as Ochako, Tooru, and Tsuyu-chan fuss over their valentines project. Satou is also there, providing expert hands-on assistance.

"You have to keep stirring that until the mixture is smooth, Uraraka," he says as he helps Tsuyu with rolling the mixture while simultaneously looking over Tooru as she wraps the chocolates into little packages. "Be careful about overheating them, okay?"

"Got it, Satou-kun!" she says, brows furrowed in concentration. "Almost there!"

"Yeah, you girls are doing great!" Satou says, beaming at them. "I'm happy that you're makin' chocolates for all of us, but really? Just friend chocolates for the guys? You sure I can't interest any of you in a nice chocolate cheesecake for a special someone…? I mean, except for Hagakure-san, of course. We'll work on Ojiro's cake in a bit-"

Tooru squeals. "Satou-kunnn don't just say that out loud it's embarrassiiiiiiiiing!" Overexcited, she throws a packet of truffles at his head, which bounces harmlessly off his forehead.

He laughs as she continues to glow in offence. "Right! Sorry, Hagakure!"

Tsuyu-chan croaks. "Thank you for offering, Satou-chan, but I don't have anyone that I like right now. I don't think Ochako-chan has anyone, either."

"Well, if you say so…"

Tooru scoffs. "Ochako-chan doesn't have anyone she likes? I doubt that, Tsuyu-chan, but okay." Her tone of voice suggests that she's rolling her invisible eyes right out of their sockets.

Ochako gasps, affronted. "What are you talking about, Tooru-chan? There really isn't anyone I like! At least, not in that way."

"Really? So all that daydreaming and blushing is for nothing?" Tooru presses with a mischievous tone. "Don't look at me like that, Ochako-chan! I know you know you've been spacing out more than usual every time we hang out!"

"I _do not!_"

"Yes you do!" The chocolate wrapping now abandoned into Satou-kun's skilled hands, Tooru floats next to Ochako accusingly. "And don't tell me you've been playing your Sap Megamix playlist on Spotify because you're not secretly head-over-heels in-love with a secret someone~ Come on, spill!"

Ochako had totally forgotten that Tooru has been honing her stalker tendencies to pro-hero levels of efficiency, for her own benefit in hero training. "Yes I could, Tooru-chan! I could listen to Carly Rae Jepsen for four hours on repeat because!"

Her cheeks shimmer bright spots of light scandalously. "Then why are you blushing so hard? Who're you thinking about?"

The image of a certain close friend with dual-toned hair, munching through a plate of cold soba like a contented cat, flashes in her brain. "No-one."

Tsuyu, who has been quietly observing this with an unreadable gaze, looks at Ochako with wide, unblinking eyes. "Ochako-chan, your cheeks are really red. Are you feeling okay?"

She puffs her cheeks, which aren't that red, okay, they're just naturally pink and bright. "I'm feeling okay! Nice and normal! Cool as a cucumber!"

Tooru whines. "You have someone you like, I knew it! The blush says it all! You are _not _cool as a cucumber, you're as hot as… as not a cucumber!"

"No, that's the chocolates," she grumbles, stirring the cucumber-free concoction not-so-gently.

"No it isn't! _Mou!_" Tooru chirps and bounces to her side, invisible head peeking up at hers. "My my my, you're burning up thinking of him? Spill, is it a classmate? Is it Midoriya-kun? Or Iida-kun? Or-"

"Tooru-chan, it's just chocolates, okay? It's really hot, you know, even your face would be red if I made you stir this-"

Satou gasps. "Yes, it is the chocolates! Uraraka-san, I think you're burning them!"

All of them squeal in unison. Ochako fumbles with the induction cooker settings briefly to lower the temperature and looks dismally at the mess. "S-Satou-kun…!" she whines in shame.

"It's okay, we can just make another batch. Got lotsa time," their tall classmate says good-naturedly as he turns and gathers the ingredients for the next batch.

"I think Tooru-chan should take it easy on the teasing, _ribbit. _Ochako-chan is obviously uncomfortable_,_" Tsuyu-chan croaks.

"Okay, okay! Sorry, Ochako-chan, I'll stop now." To prove how apologetic she is, she gives her a big hug from behind. "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to say, okay?"

Ochako hugs her right back. "Okay."

"... even though I know you'll crack eventually," Tooru adds mischievously.

The girl cackles as Ochako tries to cover her runaway mouth with her palm, and fails.

After spending a few more hours making the chocolates, wrapping them up, and labeling each of them with cute heart-shaped name tags, Tsuyu and Ochako leave Tooru and Satou in the kitchen to work on Ojiro's cake. As they sneak up to their rooms so that the boys don't see, Tsuyu-chan nudges Ochako to get her attention.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow, _ribbit?_"

"Me?" Ochako says, going _pshh_. "Tsuyu-chan, they're just friend chocolates. Not like we're confessin' or anything. Nothin' to be nervous about!"

"Well… okay," the frog-girl says, looking at her carefully. "I'm just a little worried, 'cause you're still a little flustered."

"... I'm not." Why would she even be flustered? She shouldn't be anxious about giving harmless little noncommittal platonic chocolates tomorrow to all her friends whom she definitely do not feel any romantic feelings for. "Tooru-chan just shocked me, that's all! I don't have anyone I want to confess to."

(Because he's definitely going to have a thousand confessions or so tomorrow. He probably won't even notice that Ochako has anything to give him…)

"Okay," Tsuyu says, pausing a bit as they reach her door. "I think it'll be okay. Everyone will like our chocolates. They'll definitely understand our feelings for them."

She raises her eyebrows. "Uh… what are you talking about, Tsuyu-chan?"

"_Ribbit. _Who knows_,_" she says with a knowing smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, Ochako-chan."

With that, Tsuyu leaves her alone in the hallway. Ochako puffs her cheeks and goes up to her room and sorts all the chocolates in a paper bag.

Staring at the friend chocolate for him in her palm, she sighs. "Yeah… there's no way he'll understand."

* * *

Distributing the friend chocolates the next day mostly goes smoothly. It was pretty fun seeing the boys' reactions to receive something handmade from the 'Valentine's Fairies," as Kaminari called them.

"Just friend chocolates for me this year?" the electric boy whines. "Ladies, if you're bein' shy about handing me my love chocolates, don't be, all right? I'm totally gonna go all out on you on White Day if you do~"

"Sorry, Kaminari-kun! Take it or leave it," Ochako says, dangling the chocolate in front of his face. "And you better give the three of us and Satou-kun something nice on White Day for our efforts! This'll be the second-best chocolate you'll eat all day!"

(The first-best chocolate comes from Momo, who claims she had done such a terrible job at something handmade that she bought expensive Belgian truffles for everyone in class as friend-chocolates.)

"Will do, babe! I'll give you the best white chocolate ever! Ah, except for you, Tooru-chan… I'll leave the success of your White Day to Ojiro-kun!" Kaminari says with a wink.

Tooru squeals and flashes so brightly half the classroom hisses. "D-don't embarrass meeee! I still haven't given him the-_oh no here he is!_"

She immediately bounces away from the them, box of chocolate cheesecake in hand. Kaminari, Tsuyu, and Ochako watch as Tooru unabashedly gives it to him and confesses to him without flinching.

"Tooru-chan is so brave, _ribbit,_" Tsuyu comments off-handedly as the red-faced Ojiro stammers something that's probably a thank you and accepts the gift.

Gotta admit, Tooru-chan has got guts. Ochako wishes it were that easy in her case.

"Look at that lucky guy! Gotta say, Tooru-chan has got herself quite a catch," Kaminari sighs dramatically. "And to think I thought this was my year to get the Todoroki Valentine's Day treatment! Ah, why can't a cute girl or guy confess to me! Come on, universe!"

"Maybe you should do the confessing, Kaminari-kun. _Ribbit._"

"Oh… I do, Tsuyu-chan, I do," Kaminari says despondently. "But I guess everyone's got eyes for Todoroki-kun by default on Valentine's day? How does anyone compete with that?"

Ochako wants to sigh along with Kaminari as she eyes the so-called Todoroki Valentine's Day treatment-a desk with piles and piles of chocolates and flowers and teddy bears, both for confession and obligation purposes, so high that they're as tall as Shouji-kun. She's sure that when Todoroki-kun eventually comes in for class, he'll have another big pile of them from admirers who put them in his locker, or just outright shoves them in his hands as he walks in the hallways.

"Have you given him yours yet, Ochako-chan?"

She snaps out of her daze and back to Tsuyu and Kaminari, who are staring at her with an oddly interested look in their eyes. She takes a moment to process the question before telling them weakly, "Oh… no. There isn't space on his desk or anything."

"You need help just piling it on there? I can do it," Kaminari offers.

"Ah… it's fine," she says, suddenly bashful. "I can give it to him later… Lunchtime? We're all having lunch together anyways…"

Tsuyu-chan looks like she has something to say when the man in question comes in. As expected, the hassled Todoroki's arms are filled with even more sweets. It's like the entire student body and faculty confessed to him that morning.

"Look at that! How unjust the world is," Kaminari sighs again. "And he doesn't look like he's enjoying himself either!"

True enough, the impassive look on Todoroki-kun's face is a little more grim today as he sees the red and white pile waiting for him at his desk. Bakugou immediately stomps to him to nag him about his 'stupid ass admirers with shit taste' and the 'pile of junk getting in everyone's way'. When Todoroki predictably apologizes to him in his deadpan, Bakugou predictably explodes, blasting maybe half the chocolates in the pile, filling the room with a caramelly and chocolatey scent. Iida immediately goes to them and reprimands Bakugou for filling the room with such a sweet and distracting scent, and Todoroki…

… actually looks _relieved _for having less chocolates on his desk.

Ochako's throat tightens a little bit. Ah, it figures that Todoroki-kun wouldn't have any use for so many chocolates. Of course he'd be happy getting rid of a lot of them by 'accident'.

"Ochako-chan," Tsuyu-chan says, tugging at her sleeves. "We should get back to our seats, _ribbit. _Aizawa-sensei's about to wake up to start the class."

She nods and follows Tsuyu to their seats, unconsciously gripping on the friend chocolates a little tighter.

* * *

Morning classes pass by, and then lunch, and then combat training at Gym Gamma, and then home. By the end of the day, Ochako's paper bag filled with chocolates is empty, save for one.

It's 11 PM, and everyone's upstairs in their rooms. Meanwhile, she's in the kitchen, munching on a bowl of muesli and staring angrily at the last bag of handmade chocolates that she failed to give away.

_For Todoroki-kun, 3 Uraraka, _the label says. Her own handwriting shaky and not cute, mocking her, reminding her that she isn't brave enough to give friend chocolates to a friend. What the heck is up with that?

It's not like he'll notice that she's given him zilch so far. Even if he does, he'd probably assume that Bakugou-kun blasted her chocolates to hell where they belong and he won't ask any further questions about it. As miserable as she feels about it, she supposes she's doing him a favor by _not_ giving the chocolates. After all, he seemed to have literally a lot on his plate, or desk already in this case, and-

"Uraraka? You're up late."

She sputters through the muesli and stares dumbly at the person in front of her. "Oh-Todoroki-kun? Um… did you just get home? It's pretty late."

He nods, putting down his jacket over a chair opposite her. "I got back from visiting my mom at the hospital. My sister dropped me off here just now."

"Oh, that's great! How is she doing?" she asks, as she watches Todoroki prepare tea with practiced movements.

"She's all right, thanks for asking. She enjoyed the chocolates I got this year." He pauses thoughtfully. "... well, at least those that Bakugou didn't destroy. They were too burnt to be enjoyable."

So that's where all of the tributes go. The other kids had always assumed that he gave them to some charity or something. Ochako giggles. "That's too bad, Todoroki-kun, you had a lot of really nice ones too, apart from the ones Bakugou-kun destroyed, that is. Did you at least have Yaomomo's truffles? Kaminari-kun says they're really good!"

He shakes his head. "I don't like sweets. I gave those to Natsu-nii." And then tilts his head, eyes looking straight into hers. "Wait. _You _like sweets. Sorry, I should have given you some, too."

She almost chokes on the stupid grainy muesli again. "Nah! It's okay, my tooth isn't that sweet..."

At least not sweet enough that she's willing to get targeted at school by the other girls if they find out that Todoroki plans to give her the chocolates meant for him. Please, she wouldn't survive the wrath if she did something so underhanded!

He blinks. "Am I wrong about your sweet tooth? I thought your favorite food is mochi. And you like crepes and strawberry ice cream and pancakes and-"

She squeaks and blushes. "H-how would you know that? I don't think I've ever eaten sweets with you before!"

He stares at her with an unreadable look in his eyes. "Midoriya," is all he says as he takes his seat, cup of tea in hand. "I really don't mind giving you chocolate. It's definitely better than throwing them away."

She laughs weakly. "I guess you're right… then, if you insist! Next year, I get dibs on your valentines' pile, so you better-ahhhhh stop!"

She snatches the little bag of her handmade chocolates right before he's able to take them.

Todoroki looks at her questioningly. "Sorry. I thought I saw my name, so…"

"No!" Ochako squeaks. He continues staring at her hand. "I mean… yeah…"

"You have chocolates for me?" He asks, eyes glinting curiously. "And you don't want to give them to me?"

She puffs her cheeks. "W… well, not anymore! Since you told me that you don't like sweets, so… I don't want to trouble you with more chocolate or anything-"

"... oh," Todoroki says, looking at the table oddly. "Sorry about that. I suppose it's weird to ask for them now."

Now he looks embarrassed. Todoroki doesn't have a lot of facial expressions, so it's a little odd, disconcerting even, to see this look on his face now. It's like she refused to open the door to a taciturn cat who wants in, for whatever reason.

"It's no trouble, Todoroki-kun! I mean, if you don't like sweets, you don't like sweets," she says brightly. "And if anything, this gives me an advantage for next year~"

He blinks. "An advantage?"

She nods, tries her best at a sly smile. "Knowing that you don't like sweets, of course. You know how many of your fans are willing to pay for that information? By next Valentine's day, I'll be so rich I could buy all the mochi I want, and-"

Todoroki gives her a deadly gaze, which gives her stomach flips instead of the cold chill it's meant to provide. "Please don't. I'll bribe you with all the mochi you want. I have enough trouble every year as it is."

She giggles despite the glare. "If they only knew that the way to Todoroki Shouto's heart on Valentine's Day is a plate of zarusoba instead of chocolates! Think of all the profits coming my way, Todoroki-kun!"

"Uraraka, if you-"

A low growl from his stomach interrupts his sentence. They stare at each other for a few stunned moments before Ochako breaks the silence with an unrestrained guffaw.

"Sorry," Todoroki says, strangely amused by the way Ochako is outright laughing at his plight. "I think I forgot to eat dinner."

"How does that happen?!" Ochako says in between giggles. Before he answers, she stands up and heads to the kitchen, searching through the cupboards. "Stay there, I'll make you something."

Todoroki stands up to stop her. "No it's okay, I can manage with leftovers."

She pushes his hands away. "Consider this a replacement for the chocolates I owe you, Todoroki-kun! Your very first V-day zarusoba! They say the handmade ones really come straight from the heart, so you better enjoy the heck out of this!"

He stares at her with that unreadable expression again when she gets to the 'straight from the heart' part. (Wah, why she gotta phrase it like that?!) She turns her rapidly reddening face from him under the pretense of looking for the bottle of mirin and cooking sake and orders him to sit down.

Thankfully, she hears him comply. "Thanks Uraraka," he says in a tone that's definitely different from his usual monotone.

Cooking Japanese food definitely comes more naturally to Ochako than baking. Preparing the tsuyu sauce and the noodles isn't as laborious as melting the chocolates the day before. In no time she serves him the zarusoba on the mismatched china available in their kitchen, along with a refill of his green tea in a coffee mug.

Not the classiest Valentine's Day dinner set-up, but Todoroki's face brightens up in a way that makes Ochako's heart feel so, so warm, like toasted marshmallows.

"Thank you for the food," he says, before taking the first slurp of the noodles. "... this is good."

"Yeah?"

He nods and munches through the rest of the food-food that she made, with her own two hands, in their kitchen, while he watched and waited. She'd melt from the sheer domesticity of it all, but she also wants to melt for a different slew of reasons-the happy slurp of noodles in his mouth, the contented glow around him, the little smile.

But this isn't really melt-worthy, because she hasn't confessed or anything. This is just friend-soba, not love-soba, if there is such a thing. So she tries her best not to be sappy about this really cute heartwarming scene and tells him in the most teasing tone she can manage, "You better give me something nice on White Day, Todoroki-kun!"

He finishes the noodles in no time and directs that little smile at her. "I should, I think. This is the nicest Valentine's gift I've gotten so far."

… and _gaaah, _insta-kill. She wasn't ever serious about selling her information to Todoroki's hordes of admirers, but now she's decided to never ever share her secret to anyone.

After that, they clean the dishes together and straighten out the kitchen. The thrill in her chest intensifies with each bump of the shoulder, each accidental brush of the fingers when she hands him the dishes to dry.

Warm and comforting and feels like home. It would be nice to have another night like this with him. She could cook him other things than soba, and…

Okay, maybe stop the daydreaming now, Ochako. No matter how cute this is, _you haven't confessed or anything._

They walk to the quiet of the common room together and look at each other before they part ways.

"So I guess this is good night." Todoroki's voice is quiet and warm.

"Yes… it is." Ochako is glad that the lights are off and he couldn't possibly see how pink her cheeks are. "Good night, Todoroki-kun."

That small smile on his face, _aaah, _it'll drive her insane, it's like seeing hidden treasure_. _"Sleep well, Uraraka."

Does she really have nothing else to say? Her mind races, knowing that it's minutes to midnight, and Valentine's Day is almost over. Her stupid mouth opens right before he turns away to stammer, "Hey…"

Todoroki patiently waits for her to say something within a silence that suddenly feels too heavy to break.

"... um," she says, gathering her courage… and failing. "Happy Valentine's day, Todoroki-kun."

The heavy, electric _something_ disappears. Todoroki stares at her like she didn't have a crisis just now. "Happy Valentine's Day, Uraraka."

They go their separate ways. Once she gets to her room, Ochako spends a few minutes screaming into her pillow and trying to calm her heart down enough to sleep.

* * *

The days pass, and before anyone realizes it, it's already White Day.

Ochako happily finds her table with sweets waiting for her. Of note are chocolate-covered strawberries from the anxious Deku-kun, who worries about fainting before he's able to give the rest of his chocolate to everyone else; a perfectly square box filled with perfectly square Swiss chocolates from Iida-kun, with instructions for proper dental care taped to the back; exquisite handmade white chocolate truffles from Satou-kun which has Momo swooning from its quality.

Kaminari drops by her table to do good on his promise on his present: a bag of pink-and-white marshmallows. "Consider this your answer, Ochako-chan. I'd _love _to go out on a date with you," he says with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Say, seven tonight in the common room? We can watch those really cool Mexican weather reports on Youtube over Chinese takeout?"

She gives him a playfully exasperated look. "How utterly romantic, Kaminari-kun, but with a heavy heart, I must decline."

"Ouch. But I expected that." He sighs dramatically before locking eyes with someone behind her. "Oi! Here's the day's star, back from buying white chocolates for the entire school! Todoroki, how's your bank account lookin'?"

Ochako freezes when she hears Todoroki's reply right behind her head. "It's okay."

"Man, you're not even denying it." Kaminari looks like he's on the verge of a jealous tantrum. "Only you can put really expensive white chocolate truffles from Belgium in everyone's lockers without flinching."

Ochako looks at Kaminari dumbly. Wait, she passed by her locker already, and she's sure she didn't get anything from-

"I talked to Yaoyorozu's supplier," he explains, unaffected. "They took care of labeling and delivery. I didn't have to do anything except use Endeavor's card to pay for everything."

"Ice cold, Todoroki. Ice cold." Kaminari seems oddly offended by all of this. "And you aren't even planning to go out with any of the ladies and gents who bared their innocent hearts to you?! Man, this is the very definition of injustice!"

Ochako dares herself to look up at Todoroki, trying not to feel too hurt over this. To her surprise, he's looking at her oddly, eyes flashing meaningfully like there's something he wants to say.

Before either of them can say anything though, the bell rings. All words disappear when Aizawa-sensei begins to wriggle out of his space under the table and groans for everyone to take a seat.

Kaminari gives them both a knowing look and a lopsided grin before he ambles over to his seat in the front. Ochako and Todoroki share one more look that doesn't really clarify things.

Eventually, he goes back to his seat and focuses his attention in front. Ochako tries to do the same thing, ignoring the stupid feelings she dare not acknowledge in her chest.

* * *

Throughout the day, she tries her best to rationalize things to make herself feel better.

There are lots of reasons that she doesn't have those stupid white chocolate truffles from that stupid award-winning chocolatier from stupid Belgium. Maybe hers just hasn't come in yet. Maybe they lost hers in the mail. Maybe Todoroki-kun had hers delivered in the dorms instead of at school. Maybe someone stole hers.

But recess comes, and lunchtime, and dismissal. Her locker gains a bag of gluten-free artisanal salted white chocolate chip cookies from Sero-kun and a little box of cheese from Aoyama-kun, but no white chocolate truffles. When she gets home to the dorms with everyone else and the girls are passing around their White Day loot, she also finds her mailbox and the front of her door devoid of those accursed chocolates.

She munches on one of the many confession chocolates that Yaomomo has been gifted with rather sourly as her brain struggles to cope with this. Is it because she didn't give him the chocolates in the end? Is it because she just made him dinner with the things from the kitchen, which isn't really a Valentine thing? Maybe he doesn't know how to respond to Valentine's soba. She's sure she wouldn't, either.

But she would try to respond, wouldn't she? If someone gave her mochi instead of chocolates, knowing that mochi is her most favorite thing in the world, she'd try her best to gift that person back with something that they like.

Especially if said person were a friend.

(And Todoroki-kun _is _her friend. So it's not bad to feel a little bad about this. Even though in the end, she didn't tell him how she feels and she doesn't know how he feels about her.)

(Ugh.)

Eventually the girls get sick of eating sweets. All of them are on the verge of throwing up by the time they agree to get to bed. Ochako, still feeling contemplative, tells them that she needs some tea to wash down the lingering sweet taste in her mouth.

Moments later, she's facing a full kettle, an empty room, and the moonlight shining prettily through the kitchen window. It's 11 o'clock and her thoughts are racing a mile a minute and deeper and deeper into a pit of abject misery.

Ridiculous how rejected she feels, even though she has no right to.

She doesn't know how long she stays there spacing out and feeling miserable when she hears the door open and close.

She turns her head and meets Todoroki's slightly bewildered eyes as he comes back past curfew again from visiting his mother, most likely. He still has his school bag and an eco bag with the hospital's logo on it.

"Oh! Welcome back, Todoroki-kun."

"I'm back," he replies. After a pause, he walks to the kitchen, turning on the lights as he enters. "What are you doing down here so late, Uraraka?"

She tries a smile, but it probably comes out as forced. Besides the weird feelings and all that, she's starting to feel the ill effects of eating all that sugar. "I think I ate too many marshmallows. Needed the tea to calm my tummy down."

"... ah." His hand clutches the handle of the eco bag a little tighter. "The ones Kaminari gave you?"

Right. He saw Kaminari-kun give her a bag of mallows, and also probably heard his comical attempt to ask her out on a date. What's with that look on his face? "Not just that. I got some from Deku-kun, Iida-kun, Satou-kun... the girls and I also ate Yaomomo's gifts to help her out."

Todoroki takes the seat across from her: a replay of the events last month, she thinks with an odd feeling in her chest. "That is a lot," he replies quietly.

Ochako tries another smile, stares at him across the expanse of sudden silence. "So… you visited your mom again? How is she?"

He nods. "Doing well. But today she got overexcited, so I took a little longer getting home than expected."

"Oh no! What happened?"

His lips pull into a hesitant line. "I needed her help with something. She got so excited about what I wanted to do, she tired herself out," he says, after a beat of silence.

Ochako finds the subtle shifts in his expression strange. Stranger still that he places the eco bag in front of her, as if he doesn't have the capacity or means to explain himself to her using words.

She blinks at him curiously, then carefully takes out the contents of the bag: two boxes stacked one on top of the other. The one on top easily looks expensive, probably from some fancy shop in Tokyo from the looks of it. The other one, a plain white box with just a messy scrawl on top reading "For Uraraka". She opens both of them one after the other, and finds herself face to face with about twenty pieces of…

"Mochi," she says breathlessly.

Todoroki nods, careful heterochromatic eyes watching her as she opens her gifts.

The mochis from the first box, the expensive one, really look the part. Dipped in swiss chocolates, prettily decorated, filled with Italian ice cream according to the label. They're just the right temperature thanks to Todoroki's quirk. If she weren't so full, she'd have attacked these mochis straight away.

The second box though, makes her heart feel so full it almost bursts. "Did you…?"

Todoroki nods again, but this time he looks a little pained as he does so. "I tried my best. Mom and Fuyumi-nee helped me make them, but as you can see, even with all the help I didn't do very well."

The handmade ones are irregularly-shaped. Some of them are obviously not rolled enough and look awkward and thick. The others are rolled so thinly the mochis burst and the filling spill out. Some of them are so fat that they ended up bunching together on one side of the box like a giant mutant mochi. The littler ones have bunched at the other side, like donut holes.

She knows she shouldn't laugh at his best efforts, but she can't help the laughter bubbling up and escaping her. "Todoroki-kun, I can't believe it! You're so bad at this!"

"I know, I'm terrible." His voice is thankfully light as he says this.

She giggles for a few more moments, the heaviness inside her chest ebbing away. When she's done, she looks at him and finds that his gaze hasn't left hers the entire time.

She clears her throat. "But… this is really amazing, Todoroki-kun. I think this is my favorite White Day gift, ever."

She isn't looking at the first box at all when she says this.

Todoroki sighs in relief across from her. "I'm sorry I took so long. I wanted to give this to you earlier, believe me. But like you said, I'm bad at this. Making the mochi from scratch took me longer than I thought."

She doesn't know what to do about the swirl of softness in her chest as she gazes on each and every one of the messy little things, knowing that he'd made them for _her. _"Don't get me wrong, I'm super happy right now, but you didn't have to go through the trouble of making mochi from scratch! That must have been difficult to do for the first time..."

"But I wanted to," he says in all seriousness, "Because the handmade ones come straight from the heart."

The intensity in his eyes, paired with the cheesy words, makes her freeze and melt at the same time. She wants to berate him for taking her words too seriously, or to express her gratitude, or to just say something intelligible, but all she's able to muster is a strangled little squeak that sounds too embarrassing to be dignified.

He starts laughing at her. "I-Todoroki-kun, stop! How could you say that with such a straight face, I can't!" she says, covering her burning face in her hands.

Across the table, Todoroki is watching her facial journey with undivided attention. An amused smile is on his lips as he leans forward, face cupped in one hand. "Does this mean that you understand my answer?"

"Your answer?" She peeks through the gaps of her fingers and finds her eyes locked in his.

"For your soba. Isn't this what white day is about?"

She feels her face burning anew. "Do you mean…"

He sighs patiently, the smile in his face not going away. "That I like you?"

As her hands float away from her face of their own accord and drop on her lap, his right hand reaches the curve of her cheek. His thumb rubs at the point where the pinks are, as an attempt at comfort.

The cold touch of it makes her feel alive.

"Yes, very much so," he finally says, bright eyes looking right into hers, softer than she'd ever seen them. "And I'd like it very much if you'd be with me. If it's alright with you."

She bites her lower lip to fight the uncontrollable smile on her face, the deafening rush of blood through her veins, the runaway tempo of her heart. Her hands move on their own again, this time to encase his hand in hers, to feel the reality of all this.

"Yes… it's all right," she replies softly.

Later on, after eating and laughing over the handmade mochis together, the two of them leave the kitchen hand-in-hand.

* * *

**AN: **I think I got some Valentine's Day/White Day things wrong...? Let me know if there are major errors! :D as always, art is available on my tumblr (junionigiri), AO3 (JuniRiceBall), or safri_riri's twitter!


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